Saint Elizabeth of Hungary was born in Sárospatak on 7 July 1207, 816 years ago. She was the third of the five children of King Andrew II of Hungary and Gertrude of Merania. In accordance with the customs of the age, she was betrothed at only four years old and then sent to Wartburg. She was only six when her mother was murdered; the story of the assassination was later treated in József Katona’s drama Bánk bán and Ferenc Erkel’s opera of the same title.
Her fiancé died at the age of 19, and she eventually married his younger brother Louis. Their marriage was happy and they had three children.
Elizabeth was only 20 when her husband, setting out on a crusade, died of plague on the journey. Her husband’s brothers deprived her of the right to manage her property and of the income from his estates. Elizabeth then secretly left Wartburg with her newborn child and had her other two children brought to her the following day. She supported herself by spinning and paid for her children’s upbringing from her remaining jewellery. She joined the Third Order of Saint Francis and from then on wore a simple grey habit. Although her father invited her home, she did not return to Hungary because of her children’s upbringing.
Elizabeth’s selfless acts of charity were held up as an example even by the pope. After the birth of her first child she founded a refuge for orphans and helped the poor. In gratitude after the birth of her second child, she established a 28-bed hospital where she personally assisted in nursing the sick. During wartime she tried to relieve the suffering caused by famine and epidemics, opening the stores at Wartburg and feeding the poor. She herself lived modestly.
Elizabeth died at the age of 24, having announced the time of her death three days beforehand. Numerous miraculous events were reported at her tomb. Pope Gregory IX canonised her in 1235, at the same place where Saint Francis of Assisi had been canonised 27 years earlier.
The images show the Saint Elizabeth series issued in 1932 for the 700th anniversary of her death. An additional philatelic curiosity is that this was the first stamp issue designed by Sándor Légrády, who went on to create a great many beautiful Hungarian stamps up to 1980.
